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It has been two weeks and I've met my first "mini" goal! Yes, I've missed food but I also want this very bad. I had my follow up and staple removal yesterday and was told no wine for my birthday, in September, but a small glass for my husband's in December would be ok. I have to remember I didn't get in this weight mess in two weeks and it won't go away in two weeks. It is a journey, I know this as I made this trip with the lap band 10 years ago. I also realize when you are as large as I was no one will notice until I lose a lot! The little victories that I have noticed, both feet easily go on the scale, I can go up the front steps without pulling myself up, my knees hurt less. I will take these victories and celebrate. My husband is very supportive and I have to remember that he also has the right to eat what he would normally eat. He has stepped up and is learning to make his meals himself, that is pretty funny as he's never cooked. I am in a good place today. For those that are starting out, there are good days and there are small victories you can do it.

Exactly there are so many reasons to get surgery that far outweigh any negative

I was maybe one day out from the hospital after surgery and ended up in the Er, turned out I had pneumonia, critically low potassium, an acute uti, plus was diagnosed with Dysphasia. I have immunodeficiency from lifelong chronic illness but was surprised how hard the surgery hit me. I had a rough time tolerating anything. try To find a protein drink you can tolerate and just sip very slowly to eventually drink it all. I still don’t get much more than 50-60 grams of protein at most and sometimes not quite 50. Just do your best. It’s ok. The first protein drink I tolerated a little better was labrada lean body in salted caramel. It’s good with 30 grams protein. Now I use PEScience protein powder.

Pneumonia is just so draining. I had it once and was exhausted for 6 full weeks. Don't worry too much about your protein while recovering but be sure to stay hydrated and sip, sip, sip all day long.

Mikeyy, it's definitely going on my list of questions for my Dr. I'd like to think that all of us have chosen wisely and our surgeons do..as you said, the best procedure possible...but now I am SO CURIOUS. That is great that your BMI is lower! Since the definition I pasted was one of several...hundreds in my google search..I skimmed just a few but they all seemed to talk bout ppl with higher BMI's. My doctor likes to educate so I gonna run it by him just for grins

That's news to me also I thought there would be a standard procedure for this bypass? Or do surgeons alter things if need be? I hope my surgeon does the best procedure possible. My BMI is only 43 not 50 though

I've had pneumonia only once and it is one of the harder thing I've ever recovered from. Get what you can in each day. I've heard my own dr say that 60 mgs is the goal but do what you can. I know we have some very savvy veterans and some amazing medical professionals that are going through this same journey. I could be wrong but I think your 1st pty is to stay hydrated, then to get as much protein as you can. My Dr's post-op even says 'there will be some days you only get 40 gms and other days where you can go higher. One thing his practices puts great emphasis is that full healing (per my Dr) takes 6 to 8 weeks. His nutritionist has told me twice this month that my body is going to take every calories i'm giving it to try to use to help heal my body. They've been doing this for over 15 years but even I have a hard time believing when she continues to assure me that my 'chances' at seeing a more rapid weight loss will actually come when my pouch and everything else has healed. I know my DR doesn't want me taking the extra vitamins we need in pill form right now, but he is OK with vitamin patches. He also prescribed this weekly 'inhaler' basically of B12 that you inhale it up one nostril. Is there some supportive stuff like this that your Dr will allow to help keep up a bit with vitamin and nutrient needs (I will say that the B12 once a week seems to help). I think...is it Frustr8 or someone else who actually goes in to their dr either monthly or bi-monthly and they get injections and some other stuff? Anyone know who I might be referring to? Give yourself a break though...pneumonia on top of a new sleeve (we're July surgery siblings) is a lot for your body to take in and try to heal you from. I don't always have the right words to say nor am I a veteran but I want you to know that I do care and I hope that you start to heal quickly..and that you can take some comfort in trying to stay hydrated and do the best you can on protein, obviously keeping in touch with your Dr. Sending hugs and prayers your way.

Yes, i did.. did they only do the malabsorption part of the surgery?

Here in the States, the proximal is the default, and there are specific standards of care that are defined within the insurance billing codes; the distal is outside of that standard and is not usually approved as an initial surgery, but can be justified as a revision if deemed appropriate. Here, for the higher BMI cases that need something stronger than a VSG or proximal RNY, the duodenal switch is the normally approved procedure. My wife's surgeon noted at one time that on the occasions that he still did a bypass (their preferred is the duodenal switch) that he liked to make them as malabsorptive as the codes permitted, which is still far short of what a distal would provide.

Time for a status update: Yesterday marked my one year anniversary on Bariatricpal.com. What a year it has been and I am so grateful for all the people here that have helped me along the way. I'm also so grateful for @Alex Brecher for creating and maintaining this site for all of us. I hope that my ongoing purchases of calcium and multivitamin supplements are enough to express my gratitude. I'm a huge fan of the BariatricPal Multivitamin One 45. I kept a journal starting in July of last year starting the 2nd day after I was serious about considering bariatric surgery. Reading all the entries is very therapeutic to me. Looking back, I probably wouldn't have changed a thing about how I started and went through this process. Almost everything has gone well in this journey for me. Sure I've had my low points, but I seemed to have come out the other side very much in-tact. There's still a long road ahead once my real hunger returns, but I'm going to keep on the straight and narrow path of eating well and exercising every day until that happens and then some. In celebration of my 1 year on this site, I thought I'd share one of my early personal journal entries: